Night Shift
by Lawra
Summary: Ranma Saotome's comfortable life of keeping everyone in the dark may not be so contented for as long as he hopes. Would it have been too much for Akane to not find out that he was a Sailor Senshi? A special thanks to Bree R aka frice2000 for helping me develop the story as well as prereading this and many other stories.


"Speech"

'Thought'

#Panda Sign#

**Spell**

* * *

Akane looked up from her textbook towards her alarm clock to see just how late it was becoming. 'Why did I wait so long?' She groaned and dropped her head to her desk. The test was tomorrow morning and she had been too busy to properly study. Getting caught up in Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi freaking out over Auntie Nodoka's pillbox had really drained her energy for schoolwork. The Saotomes had been forced to move back into her home after Ranma's other fiances had destroyed their home, causing another distraction.

Not that she would admit that it was nice to have Ranma back, nope never, because that was just impossible.

"Whatever." She sighed and clicked off her light to get to bed. Hearing the clacking of feet on the roof above her head, her eyes narrowed dangerously. 'If that's Kodachi I'm going to shove all her roses down her throat.' She snorted and reached for a shinai she kept nearby so she could beat up whichever fiance was trying to sneak in.

Through her window she saw three figures drop past to the ground. 'Three?' That immediately eliminated the other fiances for Ranma as they wouldn't be able to coordinate.

Rushing out of her room and down the steps to find out what was going on, she heard three girls talking. Slowing to a stop at the side of the building, Akane peaked around the corner. She was so shocked over the trio of brightly dressed females having a conversation that her jaw wouldn't drop. To the left was Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus while to the right was the normally solo, Sailor Theia.

'Wha— wha— what are they doing here?' She nearly stumbled out of her hiding spot, struggling to make out details in the dark.

"You should really visit more, I could help out with those modifications you want to do if we had more time together." Sailor Mercury with her blue themed uniform and hair suggested to red haired Sailor Theia who had a silver skirt and bows with large red border trimmed by a slim band of gold.

"I know." The redhead's shoulders slumped, her unbound hair reaching midback. "But— you know why."

"Just remember we're a team, the lone protector schtick does get old." The blonde Sailor Venus wagged a gloved finger disapprovingly. " I did it long enough, I should know." She added tiredly and planted her hands on her orange skirted hips.

"Aw come on, these stupid things are push overs except when they have some stupid trick." Sailor Theia whined. "I would have had this one tonight if it didn't keep splitting into more everytime I hit it."

"See! That's why you need a team!" Venus crossed her arms and made a big show of frowning angrily at the redhead.

"Fine I'll think about it." Theia held up her hands in mock defeat. "But can we talk about this later?"

"Sure." Mercury nodded.

"Call me." Venus warned as the pair turned and bounced over the wall at high speed.

Sailor Theia scratched at the back of her neck as her form was enveloped by a bright white light with rainbow colored flecks swirling throughout. Suddenly the light popped away from her body like shattering glass to reveal a familiar red long sleeved chinese shirt and a black pair of pants. Both being nearly a dozen sizes too big for the form underneath.

"Ah, tonight was fun." Ranma stretched her arms high up over her head, hair now back in its usual pigtail.

"Ranma?" Akane whispered in a tiny voice.

"Hmm?" The redhead twisted her head around towards Akane's hiding spot. "Oh— uh— hi Akane, how long have you been there?" The gender cursed teen asked hesitantly.

She couldn't form an answer as her eyes rolled up in her head as she fell face first towards the ground.

* * *

The next morning

Scribbling the last answer on his test, Ranma glanced up to see that he had more than a half hour to spare before the period would end. Checking his answers through again only ate up another five minutes. Shrugging in indifference, he headed for the front of the class and deposited his test on Ninomiya Hinako's desk before returning to his seat.

He heard some of the usual whispers about how he had just turned his test in because he didn't know the answers but ignored them. Just because he refused to show off his scores didn't mean he got bad ones. Ranma never got to sit back down as Akane slammed the door open and knocked desks out of the way as she stormed towards him. He stared in shock at her, the youngest Tendo still wearing pale yellow pajamas.

"You— me— talk— now!" She demanded and grabbed him by the pigtail to drag him out of the class.

"Ow ow ow, quit pulling on that!" He whined, seeing most of the class get drained by Hinako as they tried to follow him and Akane out of the room.

"Finish your tests then you can leave!" The now adult teacher declared.

Ranma snickered as his violent tomboy of a fiance dragged him down the hall to a chorus of pathetic groans from his classmates. Akane rounded a corner, paused, then Ranma found himself being thrown into a dark room. Crashing into several brooms, a dry mop ended up landing on his head like a terrible wig.

"Oh Akane, you always pick the most romantic places to talk." He gushed sarcastically and picked the mop off his head.

Akane ignored his jab to close the door and click on the overhead light. "How in the world are you a beautiful sailor suited warrior of love and justice?!" She yelled at him.

Ranma unburied himself from the cleaning supplies to cover up Akane's mouth. "Shh! Are you trying to tell the entire ward?" He looked around, suspecting the entire school to pop out of the shadows.

"How?" Akane demanded, batting his hand away.

"Lucky me, I guess." He shrugged.

"Give me details!" She almost screamed at him. "When did it happen? How did you get picked? What are the senshi like? Can you get me their autographs? What bad guy are you fighting?"

"Akane." Ranma interrupted his clearly overzealous fiance and crossed his arms. The short haired girl actually stopping to hear what he had to say. "I'm not going to have this conversation in a broom closet."

"But—." She started.

"I'll get you an autograph if you can wait till later tonight." He offered.

Akane's eyes looked around wildly in indecision as she struggled with a clear desire to try and learn more. "Promise me." She focused on him and narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"On my honor as a martial artist, I promise to get you a senshi's autograph." He answered seriously.

"You better, Sailor Theia or not." She warned before smiling deliriously. "Ohh I wonder which one I'll get!"

"Maybe I'll get em to compliment your pjs." Ranma snickered, causing Akane to look down and see that she had ran to school in her sleepwear.

* * *

Ukyo desperately wanted to pester Ranma to find out what Akane's interruption was all about but she didn't feel comfortable with talking to him at the moment. Helping to destroy his mother's home had done little to advance her goal of marrying her childhood friend. When she had found out that it was just a cheap pill box with a fake ring, she had been too embarrassed to go to school for three days.

None of that stopped her from getting as close as possible during class breaks to listen to Ranma be pestered by the other students with less discretion. Ranma kept his mouth shut though, acting as though he was oblivious to why Akane had shown up in her pajamas to confront him about something.

Glaring at the male classmate who openly suggested that Ranma had ravished Akane, putting her into a sex coma until a few minutes before her arrival. Ukyo would have pounded the little toad if Ranma hadn't beat her to the punch.

During the last break of the day, she approached Ranma's two male friends, HIroshi and Daisuke. Dropping herself in a nearby seat without a word, the two boys playing cards turned from their game and gave her a confused stare. "You two." She started before being interrupted.

"We have names." Daisuke stated with narrowed eyes.

"Ah— right." She sat up a little straighter and tried to look happier. "Sorry sugar, I'm just real worried about Ranchan. Do either of you know what's up between him and Akane?"

"Nothing out of the usual." Hiroshi shrugged and placed a card on the table. "Been kind of quiet actually."

"Wouldn't that be out of the usual?" Daisuke added as he drew a card.

'Sure is.' She pursed her lips and wondered how much pressure she should apply in finding out what was going on between Ranma and Akane. "Swing by sometime, half price okonomiyaki." She offered and retreated to her desk to contemplate a plan of action.

* * *

Announcing his return, Ranma kicked off his slippers, and nearly bumped into his mother as he turned the corner. She was dressed in a light purple kimono with a pattern of hanashobu, and she was lacking the Saotome family sword. Something Ranma had noticed happening more and more often.

"Did you have a good day at school?" Nodoka asked, a pleasant smile on her face. "Any homework?" She continued without allowing him a response.

"No, no homework tonight." He answered awkwardly. Casual conversations with his mother were not something he was comfortable with. He was always worried he would say something that would set off her manliness obsession and lead to his mother grabbing her sword.

"That's good, I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"Uh— what things?" Ranma asked with a gulp.

"Things." Nodoka answered with an amused lilt to her voice. "Why don't you go have a seat in the living room and I'll prepare us some tea?"

"Sure." He nodded slowly, a little unnerved by his mother's tone. Ranma decided that it was likely a good thing because if it wasn't then she wouldn't be so casually enigmatic about it.

Outside the living room, his panda father and Soun were playing shogi, neither looking like they had moved all day. "Gee Pop, are you trying to become one with the floor?"

#A true master of the art# Genma held up a second sign. #Can make standing still into rigorous exercise#

"Too true Saotome, excess motion is for the young and foolish. A lesson your son still hasn't learned." Soun added as he slid a piece across the board.

"Since you've been here all day, do you know what Mom wants to talk to me about?" He was far more interested in that topic than mocking his father for being slower moving than the sap of the Venusian hoary albizia. Ranma nearly missed his father shaking his head the negative as he had to struggled to remember that it took five hundred years for the sap to travel from root to leaves.

#Find out what she wants and make her happy# He signed, focus clearly back on the game.

Dismissing his father, he placed his bookbag on the table, and took a seat. There was a small stack of papers off to one side that he was just reaching for when Nodoka appeared, announcing that the tea was ready. The Saotome woman placed a small tray loaded with two cups, a kettle, and traditional tools for making tea. At one time he had enjoyed watching the process, but after the whole martial arts tea ceremony fiasco he found it tiring. But his mother did seem to enjoy the preparation so he tried to look cheerful even if he was worried about what she wanted to talk about.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asked, growing increasingly paranoid over her silence.

"Oh I just got curious." She answered as she carefully set a cup down in front of him. "I know how— unreliable Genma can be, and I wanted to know about your progress in school."

#I'm hurt!# Genma signed and held a paw to his heart dramatically. Ranma just rolled his eyes at his father's mock pain.

"While there are a few— missing spots." Nodoka continued, giving Genma a dirty look. "I was able to get a copy of your records."

"That's it?" He didn't think there could be anything special or embarrassing contained within his school records.

"I was very surprised." She finished pouring her own tea and picked up the top paper. "I expected you to be manly but with your father I didn't expect for your grades to be this good." Nodoka smiled proudly at him and slid the paper over. "For all these years, you've been consistently in the top ten of your class while still training full time. It's very impressive."

"Th— thanks." He responded to her praise nervously, unused to being openly complemented. Especially not by his mother, who usually only spoke in things that he wasn't supposed to do. Ranma was unprepared to stop the wooden sign that broke over his head. "What was that for?! Stupid old man!" He whined, clutching the back of his head.

#Don't let the boy get a big head!# Genma smacked him again with the sign before holding up another. #He never studies and is always slacking off!#

"Is this true?" Nodoka asked him in a scandalized tone.

"It's all pretty easy." He answered with a shrug and casually kicked his father squarely in his fat panda stomach. "And the art takes up a lot of time."

"Unacceptable!" She announced and slammed both hands down on the table, startling everyone present. "It's most unmanly for you to neglect such a gift to focus solely on the art."

"Mom—." He started to protest but withered under her glare.

"I'm not sure how often you are tested but I expect you to be scoring in at least the top three by months end. If you are this accomplished without effort you should be more than capable of being top of your class. If you're unable to do that then we may have to enroll you in a juku." Nodoka punctuated her ultimatum by the simple act of closing her eyes and taking a sizeable sip of tea.

"But—." Ranma opened his mouth to say that he couldn't dedicate that amount of time to school when he could be attacked at any moment. But seeing that she wasn't paying any attention he just slumped his shoulders and tried to rationalize that it wouldn't immediately hurt him. Just later on when one of the crazies came up with some unbeatable technique.

Soun decided to throw in his own thought just as he completed shifting all the board pieces around to benefit him. "An education is important."

'What an epiphany.' He mentally groaned.

* * *

Furinkan

Nabiki smirked in pride at her elder sisters impressed look at the school's gymnasium. Around them several booths and smaller tables had been setup for various girls to sell different and competing beauty product brands. Smaller tables were also there for more random items but overall the theme screamed girls only. Even if there were a few boyfriends who had been dragged kicking and screaming inside.

"This is very ambitious, Nabiki." Kasumi smiled in approval.

"This is just the first one. I figure if we can spread the word a bit and make it a regular event then I'll be able to make a whole lot of money." She wrung her hands in anticipation. Nothing like getting a cut of vastly overpriced cosmetics being sold to gullible and vain girls.

"I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun."

"Very." Nabiki nodded, wondering if it would be possible to get some kind of corporate sponsorship if things really took off. Almost thirty students had shown up and it had only been advertised for two weeks.

"Whatever gave you the idea?"

"One of my— helpers wanted me to come to some Avon party. After I saw how much yen was getting thrown around I couldn't help but think there had to be a better way." She finished proudly as though she had just discovered some great secret.

"Do you happen to have any security?" Her elder sister pointed towards two girls from competing brands who were about to start fighting.

"Hey!" She shouted over to Ryoga who was tied with a long heavy chain up to the ceiling mounted basketball hoop. "Job for you, enforcer." She pointed to where the volatile situation was starting to boil over.

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this." Ryoga admitted, glancing fearfully at the now fully brawling females.

"How are you doing Ryoga-kun?" Kasumi asked, oblivious to one of the booths that had now toppled over.

"Oh— I'm fine Kasumi-san." The easily lost teen admitted bashfully. "I was just trying to get back to the dojo to challenge Ranma when Nabiki said she'd show me how to get there after I helped her keep everyone in line."

"You don't have to do that, I'm sure Nabiki would be happy to help you." Kasumi volunteered sweetly.

"That would be great thanks." He sighed in relief. "Can't believe you can find it with how often it moves around."

"We have a verbal contract." She pointed out, ignoring the stupid comments coming from Ryoga, and noticing that the fight had ended as quickly as it began. "Or are you not a man of honor?" Nabiki asked tauntingly.

"I am." Ryoga bowed his head in defeat before glancing to his right. "Those guys look pretty rough, are they supposed to be here?"

"Probably just a couple of perverts." Nabiki shrugged, ignoring the quintet of large figures shrouded in shadows near the entrance. "Just keep your eyes open for another fight."

'Heh if that lunk head Ranma was half as smart as me he could get this moron to be waiting on him hand and foot instead of attacking him every couple of weeks.' She thought smugly over having an advantage Ranma could never have.

* * *

Akane scanned the courtyard of her home sourly as she tried to find her betrothed. As desperate as she was to find out more about Ranma's gigantic secret, she wasn't so stupid as to blurt it out over dinner. But the pigtailed boy had vanished without a trace as soon as the meal was completed. There was some tension between Ranma and his mother but it didn't seem like anything too life threatening. But that didn't excuse him from neglecting to give his promised explanation!

"And he better have my autograph." She snarled as she stomped her way towards the dojo to see if he had decided to hide there.

She was completely unprepared for the gentle tap on her right shoulder. "Hey tomboy." Ranma greeted.

Screaming, she jumped straight up in the air in shock. Tripping as she was landing, Akane collapsed on her backside. "Ouch." She whined and glared at Ranma. "Jerk."

"Sorry, I saw an opening and— took it." He smiled so widely that his eyes were almost tiny slits.

"Where have you been?" She demanded, jumping to her feet, and preparing to pummel him about the head and shoulders for surprising her.

"Eh—." He shrugged like her question was unimportant. "Studying, mom has it in her head that I need to do better at school." He supplied, shifting a book and notepad held with his right hand.

"And you should." She snorted. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to be engaged to an idiot who never studies?"

"I know right." Ranma groaned and slapped his forehead.

"Wait— are you talking about me?" Akane asked in confusion.

"Shampoo doesn't go to school and Ucchan gets good grades even though she runs a store—." He trailed off and started to strut arrogantly towards the front gate. "So who else?" Ranma picked up his pace at finishing his thought.

"Get back here you jerk!" She shouted and ran after the gender changing teen and Sailor Senshi.

"Nuh uh!" Ranma easily bounded to the top of the wall and flashed a piece of paper. "Maybe if you can catch me you can have this autograph I was able to get." He taunted before vanishing behind the wall.

* * *

Ranma slowed to a crawl in Furinkans main courtyard so Akane could catch up to him, the youngest Tendo sister was hopelessly outmatched by him in speed and endurance. 'All that jogging and she can't even keep up with me to Furinkan.' He shook his head, partially glad that he hadn't had such a soft life this time around.

"I guess you earned it." He held out the piece of paper for the spent Akane to take.

Akane's eyes sparkled in pure joy as she gazed at the intricate calligraphy that had been lovingly transcribed on the simple paper. "I have a Senshi's autograph." She gushed and looked like she wanted to cry.

'You know a Senshi.' Ranma rolled his eyes at Akane's focus on a simple autograph. He did get a particular thrill watching as she tried to figure out just what was written down.

"Um— what does it say?" She finally asked, eyes crossed. "What language is this?"

Smirking, he responded to her question in a language that hadn't been heard in thousands of years. Linguists could spend their entire careers deconstructing every minute detail. Historians would beg to learn more about the long gone Silver Millenium that it represented. Of course the importance of it was completely lost on Akane who looked like she wanted to pound him into the ground.

"Did you just call me tomboy in some alien language?" Akane asked dangerously.

"Civilized culture is totally lost on you." Ranma shook his head in disgust. "I said that it says to Tendo Akane, my most important fan, Sailor Theia."

"I have Theia's autograph!" Akane squealed in delight, dancing around in the empty courtyard.

'Wish I could get that happy over something.' He lamented, feeling a little put off that she was so focused on it being from Theia and not that he had just called her his most important fan. "You know that's from me right?" Ranma asked in annoyance.

Akane paused to blink down at the paper while deep in thought. Ranma however started to feel a familiar and unwelcome tingle up his spine. It was a faint chill in the air that signaled to him that a monster was nearby. Judging by how strong the feeling was, they weren't acting alone, which meant this could be dangerous.

"You promised to get me an autograph!" Akane brought her fist back to punch him but he casually caught her fist before she could bring it forward.

"I am a Senshi, remember." He spoke seriously, looking towards the side of the school. "I need to go find cold water."

"Ranma? What is it?" Akane asked, noticing his suddenly serious demeanor.

"Duty calls." He replied and rushed off towards the pool area. Briefly turning around he yelled back. "You can't help, so don't be your dumb tomboy self, and go back home!"

* * *

Ryoga grunted as he tore t he chain binding him to the basketball hoop free, the entire support structure ripping free from the ceiling to crash into the hardwood floor. With a quick jerk, he used the chain like a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon to whip one of the monsters attacking the girls in the gym right in the face. The vaguely male, humanoid thing howled in agony as it fell to the floor.

"Leave them alone!" He shouted, hoping to draw all attention to himself. Only one of them actually took his challenge, the rest remained trying to round up everyone in the gym towards the wall with no doors.

"You have a lot of life energy." The approaching one chuckled. Standing well over two meters tall, it was thickly muscled with bright orange skin mottled by ugly black spots. Two outward curving tusks extended downwards from its mouth while two red eyes peered out from beneath a heavy brow.

Ryoga took a step forward into a fighting stance, ready to face the oni when he felt a tug on his ankle. Looking down, he traced the chain back to the demon he had struck in the face to see him holding it. "Oops." He commented intelligently as his leg was pulled out from under him.

The orange oni attacked simultaneously, trying to drive a heavy fist down through his head. Unable to avoid the blow, he caught the fist with both hands, and barely stopped it from caving his face in. Growling, he jerked his chained leg free of the other monster and kicked the orange one in the side.

He was surprised by how effective it was, the kick easily sent the monster flying into and through the gym wall. Realizing that he didn't have time to wonder why the oni was so weak, he hopped up to his feet, and quickly broke himself free of the shackle on his ankle. Rising up to a standing position, a sudden bout of vertigo nearly made him fall back to the floor.

"Such delicious energy." The orange oni remarked in delight as it dug itself free from the wall completely unharmed, its fanged maw open in a grin. "Maybe it would be better to corrupt your soul rather than kill you."

Ryoga missed a blue skinned one with fish features grabbing him from behind in a bear hug. This time he felt it as he grew instantly weaker in the monsters arms. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he wrenched the creatures flipper like hands apart. Holding the arms in place, he leaned forward before jerking his head back to headbutt the monster in the face. Feeling the creature's body go slack, he used his position to throw it over his shoulder to the floor. Intending to bring a foot down on the monsters head, he faltered again, falling next to the oni on his knees.

Trying to think through a way to beat the group of monsters was becoming difficult. The world was starting to spin and his thoughts were becoming a jumbled mess that refused to make sense. Just by touch they had sapped his strength in an instant, what techniques could he use to avoid that? He could use his belt as a sword and there was always his bandanas.

Attempting to raise a hand to pull a bandana from his head, he found that he couldn't raise it above his waist as he suddenly grew weaker. His eyes fell to where the fish man was holding onto his ankle. Before he could even try to free himself, his strength gave out, and he collapsed fully to the floor.

'Akane-san I'm sorry I couldn't protect your sisters.' He thought in a daze, mortally embarrassed to be defeated by such ridiculous monsters. Ryoga could see Nabiki looking ready to panic while other monsters waited to drain the group of girls. While Kasumi looked completely calm and was looking just to the side of everything.

The fish man chuckled in a wet gurbling voice, releasing Ryoga long enough to regain his feet to stand over him. "Stupid human, you're no match for us." It announced and began to reach down to finish the job.

"**Sun Shower!**" A female voice called out. Simultaneously a ring of bright orange light appeared underneath the aquatic oni who looked up in terror. Ryoga watched as thousands of brightly glowing orange lights fell like water droplets to cascade over the encircled area. The oni let out a scream as it's body started to glow with the same colored light raining down before briefly shrinking into a smaller shape, and then exploding into tiny black fragments that clattered softly on the hardwood floor and against him.

"Creatures of evil, lifeless husks that prey on the innocent, you will not be forgiven." The same girl's voice lectured as two silver boots dropped into Ryoga's line of sight, crunching as they stepped over the black fragments. "I, Sailor Theia, will not see such a precious gift stolen by the likes of you!"

If Ryoga had the energy he might have developed a nosebleed as his eyes took in more of his saviours form. Silver boots with a small heel that reached mid calf with gold laces running up the sides clicked against the wooden floor as she strutted forward. Long multi-layer ribbons trailed down from a primarily silver bow at her lower back forming twin feather like tails that occasionally hid her bare legs. A tiny silver skirt with a gold and red border bounced with each step along with her long red hair pulled back by a small gold and red barrette.

Her upper body was covered by a pure white sleeveless suit with small feather-like ribbons sticking out from around her upper arms. White gloves with a gold and red accent at the top covered her arms to her elbows. She paused to turn back towards him, revealing a silver bow over her impressive bust with red and gold borders. "Relax, you'll feel better with some rest." Her pretty face smiled down at him, bright blue eyes filled with confidence. A golden tiara arched across her forehead, a small oval red jewel matching her hair sat at the center.

* * *

Sailor Theia frowned as she noticed Akane crashing through the gym doors, knocking aside the monster who had been blocking it in the process. 'Why doesn't she ever listen?' She groaned while taking stock of the remaining demons. A stereotypical orange oni was growling at her from straight ahead. The one Akane knocked down had rapidly jumped back to it's feet and made a move to tackle the short haired girl who hadn't even noticed it's presence.

"Stupid tomboy." She grumbled as white light gathered in her left hand while her right was covered in darkness. "**Moonlight Wave**!" Slamming her palms together, the two opposing colors clashed in a rapidly flashing strobe effect that overpowered the lighting in the room. The air distorted around the pulsating ball of light that shot across the room, ripping up and scattering pieces of the wood floor as it passed.

Her attack arced around to pass between the two, narrowly missing Akane, but catching the entire left side of the monster who tried to avoid the spell. Even though it was only a glancing blow, the oni was pulled into the spell, arms and legs flailing wildly as it traveled a few more meters before exploding with a large shockwave of light and sound that shattered the windows, overhead lights, and threw Akane forward to slide across the floor.

"Oops." She winced, forgetting about the last three monsters, Theia ran over to her fiance. "You okay?" She asked as Akane shook her head, her hair sticking out at wild angles, and small rips all over her clothing.

"What?" Akane asked loudly and rubbed at her ears.

"Sailor Theia watch out!" Some girl yelled from the crowd that had been corralled by two of the monsters.

Hearing heavy bare feet approach from behind, she glanced back long enough to see that the orange oni was trying to take advantage of her distraction. He roared inarticulately and brought a clawed hand down to crush her. Gathering up Akane in her arms, she leapt straight upwards. Her fiance clung to her tightly as Theia watched the oni cave in the floor to create a dust cloud of debris.

"Wow he's actually kind of strong." She remarked, most of the monsters she fought were complete pushovers, barely above Gosunkugi in fighting abilities.

"Some kind of frog?" Akane yelled at her, cupping a hand behind an ear. Gravity reasserted it's hold and they descended to land straight on the monsters back, driving the oni waist into the floor. "What's this about a frog?" Akane demanded as Theia released her to stand on her own two feet. "This isn't really the time."

"Just go help him" She pointed towards where the barely conscious lost boy laid face down on the gym floor. Underneath her feet the monster groaned so she stomped her heeled boot on the back of it's head.

"But I can help you." Akane protested.

"No you can't!" Theia declared in frustration. "Look what happened to him." She pointed once again to Ryoga. "If they touch you, you'll be as weak as a baby in a second."

"I don't have to be better than Ryoga." Akane snarled and pushed her off the downed oni before she pulled him free of the hole to his feet. "See, look how weak this thing is." She lightly pushed the oni who fell backwards flat on his back. "You didn't even do anything to it."

"Damn it will you listen to me!" She shouted in irritation. "Me— Sailor Senshi, you— normal girl, just do it so I can kill these things!"

"Akane quit getting in the way and let the Senshi do her job! " One of Akane's friends, Yuka yelled angrily from across the gym with a chorus of similar sentiments following from other girls.

"Oh alright." The youngest Tendo pouted and idly punted the unconscious oni into a wall as she dejectedly dragged her feet towards Ryoga.

'Wow, can't believe she actually listened.' Theia blinked several times, having expected Akane to put up far more of a fight on this issue. Thanking her late queen Serenity for this spot of good luck, she decided to leave the orange oni for last, and turned her blue eyes towards the other two.

They weren't even that interesting, generic male shaped monsters with ugly faces, and some horribly coordinated color scheme to their clothing and bodies. But they were holding girls as hostages in front of themselves while everyone else in attendance tried to rush around the side towards the front door.

"Cowards." Theia spat, the two monsters were holding Nabiki and a girl she had seen around Furinkan once or twice.

"Surrender and prepare to die!" The one holding the unknown girl yelled and tightened his grip causing her to shriek in pain.

"No thanks." She waved a white gloved hand dismissively and made a big show of stalking towards them. "Say— what are you going to do about the Senshi behind you?"

All eyes in the room left her to try and find a Sailor Senshi hidden in the small forest of booths and tables. Both monsters were too distracted to notice her close the distance in an instant. Freeing the girl that she didn't know first by striking several joints with enough force to break the creature's bones. The other realized too late that she was within arms reach, letting go of his hostage to try and defend himself. She struck with only one arm over three hundred times faster than the eye could follow, the oni staggered back in a daze from the shock to it's body.

Turning back to the other, she grabbed the monsters limp arm, and threw him into his dazed compatriot to send the pair crashing through a booth. Pushing aside cheap pieces of wood as she slowly pursued the two, Theia wished she could make an example out of them to the rest of the monsters. But in the end they were evil energy siphoning monsters who would never feel a moment of empathy for others. They would never feel shame or sorrow over the cruelty they inflicted.

The one who had been holding Nabiki recovered enough to try and fight her. Casually avoiding a clumsy swipe of his claws, she used several punches to his stomach to put him off balance before planting a solid side kick to his chest. The monster tumbled end over end to land heavily next to the orange oni.

Satisfied that neither of them would be getting up in the time she needed, Theia turned her attention to the halfway broken monster behind her. He was trying to limp away and escape but froze when her disgusted gaze fell on him. The monster seemed to panic and decided that it's best bet was to charge her rather than remain at range where she could hit it with magic spells. Rolling her eyes, she sidestepped at the last moment, and performed a knife hand chop to the back of it's head.

Theia leaped horizontally away from the staggering monster to get all three within her field of vision. "**Dawn's Light Striker!**" She called out and brought her right arm across her body before bringing it back in an upwards arc leaving a brightly glowing orange semi circle hanging in the air before her. Throwing her left hand forward with an open palm, dozens of light rays poured out to engulf the monsters. The light's intensity rapidly became blinding to the few students who had remained. With a single pulse it vanished, leaving a black trail of charred wood in an arc before her, the monsters having been vaporized.

Theia grimaced as one of the overhead lights chose that moment to fall with a loud crash. 'At least pineapple head has done more damage to the place.' She rationalized having pulled back a great deal to keep her attacks from destroying most of the school. "Sorry about interrupting your event." She apologized to the visibly angry Nabiki who was staring at the ruined gym before making her escape. Normally she'd stick around to make sure everyone was alright, but normally she didn't know the people she saved.

* * *

"I should have found a cart." Ranma bemoaned as she carried Ryoga back to the dojo so he could recover. He was draped over her back with his arms hanging limply over her shoulders and with his feet dragging on the ground behind. The dojo was in sight so she would soon be able to unload her burden.

"It's the least you can do, ya know— since you didn't do anything." Nabiki remarked, still sounding off kilter and angry over being at the epicenter of a monster attack.

"I can't be everywhere." She rolled her eyes in annoyance that she was being blamed. 'Maybe I shouldn't have went back to the school.' This was going to be weird enough having to play dumb around Nabiki.

"I'm sure if Ranma-chan knew, she would have come to help." Kasumi came to her defense, partially chastising her younger sister. Akane looked like she wanted to blurt out Ranma's secret constantly but was holding her tongue and clutching Theia's autograph.

"He's always in the thick of it." Nabiki snorted. "So where were you Saotome? Off stuffing that maw of your's full of food?"

"Yea." She admitted slowly, letting the middle sister make up a lie up for her. "There was this shop having a sale on onigiri and—."

"I don't need to hear about your gluttony." Nabiki snapped.

"You asked." She rolled her eyes, letting her fiance's sister vent.

"Akane, why don't you carry Ryoga-kun for awhile?" Kasumi suggested.

"Me?" The short haired girl asked.

"Don't you think it's wrong to force Ranma-chan to carry him the whole way?"

"It's no problem." She shrugged, having no trouble carrying the lost boy save that he was so much taller than her which made it awkward.

"You're right Kasumi, here take this." Akane handed over her autograph to Kasumi before forcibly taking Ryoga from Ranma's shoulders roughly.

Ranma shared a confused look with Nabiki as Akane picked up her pace, determined to carry Ryoga home as best she could. Shrugging her shoulders, Ranma decided it was better not to ask for details on the youngest sister's behavior. She didn't miss that Kasumi had glanced down at the autographed paper and read it before placing it carefully in her purse. Nabiki was thankfully distracted enough to miss the exchange all together.

As they entered the main gate, Ranma felt a giggle threatening to escape her at telling this story to Ryoga once he woke up. Sure he was carried around enough as P-chan but to be carried in public as a human would leave him mortified. Nearly as much as she was at the very thought of getting carried by Akane when Dr. Tofu had crippled her temporarily to show how sweet the violent girl could be.

"Where are we going to put him?" Ranma wondered. "I mean, how long is he going to be out?" She added, feigning ignorance. Ryoga would likely be out for a day then he would be strong enough to wander off and get lost.

"Your room works just fine." Nabiki remarked haughtily.

"That would be most improper." Kasumi replied in shock, drawing strange looks from her sisters and Ranma to a far lesser extent. "Um— Auntie is in there as well, she wouldn't want a strange boy— even one as nice as Ryoga-kun in the room with her while she slept."

"Yea mom might have issues." She added, raising a delicate eyebrow in curiosity. "The old freak has been gone for a while, why don't we stick him in that room?"

"Ranma— you're not trying to pick on him right now are you?" Akane asked dangerously. "Anytime spent in there is traumatic."

"Fine we'll stick him in the dojo." She shrugged. "Guess I'll grab a futon for him."

"There's one in the closet under the steps." Kasumi supplied helpfully.

Leaving Akane and Kasumi to bring Ryoga to the dojo so she could grab the bedding, Nabiki simply snorted and made her way towards the kitchen. While laying out the futon and rolling placing the comatose Ryoga on it she tried to figure out how long it would take for him to recover. She had never been able to keep track of anyone who was drained as completely as him.

"Ranma— he's going to be alright, right?" Akane asked in concern.

"Course he is, let him rest, maybe some food and he'll be just fine." She waved off her fiance's concern but noticed Kasumi glancing between them.

"I'll get him a glass of water." The eldest daughter volunteered as she left the two of them alone with Ryoga.

"Is Kasumi acting a little— off to you?" Akane asked in a hushed tone.

Ranma made sure Ryoga's chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythmic pattern before answering. "Well— you know now."

"Yea so? You still haven't explained anything to me." The short haired girl crossed her arms irritably.

"So I can already see that you want to blurt out my secret." She explained slowly, straightening the collar on her shirt, the loose fabric having shifted into an uncomfortable position. "Kasumi has known and you never suspected a thing. It's probably weird for her to not have to avoid the issue. Especially right after getting attacked by monsters."

"She knows!?" Akane yelled before realizing what she was doing.

"That's what I just said." Ranma responded calmly.

"How did that happen?"

"Well— do you remember that cheerleading fight I had with Mariko?" She started. "It was a couple days after that."

* * *

The chain link fence barely clinked with every step as Ranma walked along the wall atop it. It was a cool fall day with a brisk wind occasionally blowing in his face. Not that he really noticed, being that he was so angry with yet another day at school, and the rumors that refused to die the horrible death they deserved.

"Damn that Mariko." He snarled and clenched up his fists. Because of that blonde bimbos declaration that she lost to Ranma and Akane's lesbian love the entire Furinkan student body would not shut up about it. Several of his male classmates had taken trips to the doctor due to their lewd suggestions.

"At least they aren't talking about me and Kuno." He decided that was a small mercy.

Feeling strangely ill at ease as he continued on his way, Ranma noticed that the area around him felt a little too silent until he heard a girls scream. He caught sight of the girl wearing a nearby schools uniform running out of an alley. She was pursued by a large translucent sickly green human-like blob that struggled to keep up on it's ponderously fat legs.

Immediately Ranma realized that this thing was the cause of his unease. Dropping from the fence and kicking the cross beam to break it at the joint, he landed and grabbed the now free end in one hand. Grasping the middle point with his other hand, he ripped it completely free, and sent it flying towards the monster. The creature turned towards the warbling noise the hollow tube made just in time to be caught squarely in it's face. There was a meaty thwack and the fence tube bounced away off of the gelatinous body before the monster toppled over.

"I don't think she's interested." He taunted and made a shooing motion with his hand towards the girl. "Now would be the time to leave." She stared at him then the monster before nodding rapidly and running in the opposite direction of the creature.

"You'll make a better meal anyways." The blob man rocked itself side to side trying to get back up into a standing position, it's voice sounding nearly as wobbly as it's body.

Ranma felt very on edge as the monster began to roll towards him with great speed rather than walk on it's legs. Bouncing upwards he tried to use it's bulk to push off and get even higher but his foot instantly stuck. "Ack!" He cried out and windmilled his arms as he was suddenly wrenched in the opposite direction. Slammed into the concrete and then rolled over he was unable to move as now every part of him was stuck to it's skin.

The monster chuckled and shook as it stopped rolling to stand up, reforming so that it had him in a bear hug. "Stupid human." It laughed louder.

"Lemme go!" Ranma struggled but not only was he being held tightly but it was like he was glued firmly to the monster. "Ugh this is disgusting!" He gagged, the creatures stench nearly making him throw up.

"I knew you would make a good meal." The monster puffed up and grew larger before falling backwards to sit down.

Ranma realized quickly that he was being drained like the monster was performing a slower version of Hinako's happo-go-en-satsu technique. The more he fought to free himself, the faster he grew weaker. His eyes grew heavy and he nearly lost consciousness as all but the last of his resistance fled him.

"Weird." The monster finally released him to drop roughly to the ground. "I can't drain the last of your energy." Shrinking down to a more maneuverable size, it grabbed him by the ankle. "But I have to kill you for getting in the way." Stomping over towards the canal with slow steps, it casually broke through the fence and threw it aside. "You're much too bony for me to eat, so enjoy drowning." It chuckled and tossed his unresisting body into the freezing water.

She didn't even feel the shock of cool liquid washing over her, too weak to even wince, only able to exhale the last breath in her lungs. Ranma briefly started to rise towards the surface before her too large clothing started to pull her down just under the surface. Time seemed to stop as she saw shapes above her through the murky liquid, her eyes closing at glacially slow speeds.

There was something familiar about this moment that finally kicked her mind back into gear, and her eyes snapped open suddenly. She was sitting on the side of a river on a bed of bright red higanbana flowers with a perfect amount of sunlight to gently warm her. Ranma shook her head, a strong feeling of deja vu overtaking her. This was the Sanzu river, she was dead, and would need to cross it in order to reach the afterlife. But she had been here before, she knew it with complete certainty. Standing as a gentle breeze blew across the endless field of flowers on both sides, Ranma struggled to remember what had happened in this strange and murky before time she couldn't quite recall.

"I've died before." For some reasons she brought one of her hands up to brush along her neck. A warm feeling swelled up in her chest as she remembered vague feelings. Clasping both hands over her heart, she felt something appear in her hands. With it came with the knowledge that she didn't have to die again, at least not here and now.

Light enveloped her form and her eyes snapped open in the real world. Twisting, she pushed heeled boots against the bottom of the canal, and with a mighty push exploded out of the water. She located the monster before landing, the living blob had barely moved from the side of the canal. Landing in a crouch, the long tails of her back bow taking extra time to settle.

"Who are you?" It demanded in confusion and anger.

"I'm Sailor Theia." She answered, remaining in a crouch, she drew upon instinctive knowledge to call forth destructive magic. "**Sun Shower!**" Theia called out and placed her gloved hand on the concrete. A small golden ring formed around her hand then underneath the green monster. It glanced down long enough to miss the downpour of magical light droplets that descended onto it's body. Engulfed by golden light, the large form exploded with a flash.

Theia watched small black fragments scatter over the street, still feeling physically weak from being drained but now she was bolstered by her senshi magic. Slowly she took in her changed clothing and tugged at her elbow length gloves. "Guess it's not too bad." She smoothed down the minuscule skirt, struggling to recall when and where she had worn it before.

With the monster gone, she noticed that people were returning to the area. Feeling uncomfortable with being seen before she could understand what was going on, Theia took to the rooftops to head back to the Tendo home to get changed back into a male.

Sneaking into the furo area was easy. Soun and Genma were off at some city council meeting. Akane was at Yuka's house while Nabiki was out scheming money out of Kuno. She had the house to herself as far as she knew. So that was one problem avoided. But now she had another. "How do I get this off?"

The gloves and boots came off with a little bit of effort due to their skintight nature. Frowning at her finger and toenails, she saw that they were covered in a clear coat of nail polish , and had been trimmed into a very feminine shape. Ranma found that was unable to remove the leotard however. The fabric only stretched enough for free movement and it was so strong that she couldn't just rip it. With no zipper or seam the only way to get it on or off was with the magic that put it on her.

Only partially concerned that the suit wouldn't stretch enough to accommodate her male form, she jumped into the super hot water. Waiting for the curse to fully kick in, she brushed her long unbound hair out of her face.

"Anytime now— let's go— and now! Now!" Ranma waited expectantly, sitting as a girl inside a very hot tub of water covering most of her body. Panicking, she dunked her entire body under the surface, and waited. She quickly found a new issue to draw her attention, feeling completely at ease holding her breath. The realization that she was being sustained through her recent transformation into a senshi came as a confusing answer to her thoughts.

Ranma was struggling to figure out what kind of transformation she had went through when she was startled by a pair of arms reaching under her armpits to pull her up from the water. Sputtering, she wiped the water from her eyes and saw that it was a distraught Kasumi who had grabbed her.

"Are you alright?" The eldest daughter asked in concern, looking Ranma up and down quickly. "Can you breathe for me? Should I call for an ambulance? Please talk to me."

"Yea I'm fine, Kasumi." She answered, waving her hands weakly in front of her body before pushing her bangs up and out of her eyes. "I was just waiting for Jusenkyo to work." She added, hoping that she hadn't really died in the canal and was now permanently a girl.

"You know me?" Kasumi asked in confusion. "Did you hit your head?"

"Of course I do." Ranma's brow scrunched up in thought. "You don't recognize me?"

"I think I'm going to call you an ambulance." The homemaker began to leave before Ranma jumped in front of her.

"Kasumi, it's me— Ranma." She waited to see some sort of recognition in Kasumi's eyes. "Red hair, blue eyes, supposed to change into a guy in hot water?"

Kasumi blinked several times, took a step back to get a better overall look before finally she seemed to recognize her. "Ranma? Why are you dressed up like a Sailor Senshi?"

"I kind of might be?" She admitted before nodding more confidently . "I am."

"Oh how wonderful, I hear they help out people and get rid of monsters and other bad people." Kasumi gave her a big smile. "How long have you been a Senshi?"

"I don't know." Ranma frowned, struggling to think through the question. "But I changed into this getup earlier to fight this fat blob monster and now I can't get it off."

"How did you get it on?" Kasumi stepped to Ranma's side to look at the back. "There's no seam. Does it stretch?"

"Magic I guess. I was a little distracted when it happened." She laughed nervously and scratched at the back of her head.

"So you wanted to put it on?"

"I guess." Accessing the magic had felt so instinctive and natural, there wasn't any intent to end up in a strange sailor fuku.

"So why not just do the opposite?"

'Like wanting it off isn't the opposite of wanting it on? Although I didn't really think about wanting it on specifically.' Recalling the trigger was surprisingly easy and it allowed her to remember that there was an item she used as a focus. Ranma felt a wave of something wash over her and when it passed her hair was back in its pigtail and she was wearing her clothing from earlier. Which was still soaking wet and muddy from the canal.

"Brrr— cold." She quickly stripped out of her top and bottoms, ignoring Kasumi's presence until she realized that the older girl was staring at her curiously. "I fell in the canal before I changed into that." Ranma explained, vowing to remember that part of the spell in the future. "Guess it works like that, thanks. But— uh— do you mind leaving so I can make sure I can still change back into a guy?"

"Oh— of course." Kasumi nodded. "I'll go make you some soup to help you warm up so don't take too long."

"Thanks." She watched her possible sister-in-law leave before filling a bucket with steaming hot water. With a minor amount of trepidation she upended it over her head and in the usual amount of time the curse activated returning her to male form. Sitting down on a stool in relief, he just stared down at the empty bucket, wondering how this newest development was going to fit into his life.

* * *

Present day

"Wow, Ranma— Just— I had no idea that you died." Akane gasped.

"I almost died; it's different." Ranma rolled her eyes. 'If I did die it would have been a lot more complicated.' Recalling what she had been told happened to Sailor Saturn after using her Death Reborn Revolution attack against Pharaoh 90 a couple years prior.

Kasumi had returned about halfway through retelling Ranma's awakening to her senshi powers and was sitting quietly nearby. She was mostly tending to Ryoga, having carefully giving him just a little bit of water.

"Do you mean that you— can't die?" The short haired girl's eyes widened in shock.

"I just didn't die." She sighed, hoping Akane would stop jumping to conclusions."What part of this aren't you getting? I was near death, not dead."

"Then what did you mean when you said you remembered dying before? Doesn't that mean you have?"

Ranma shrunk into herself slightly. She didn't know how her original incarnation had met her end and being that it was Theia's last memory it should be one of the freshest and strongest memories she had inherited.

"Akane, I think Ranma has shared enough for tonight, don't you?" Kasumi broke into the conversation, her tone indicating that she wasn't just suggesting Akane to stop. "I know how hard it can be to take in but she's not going anywhere."

"I guess." Akane looked like she wanted to argue but wasn't going to go against her elder sister.

"What was everyone up to?" Ranma asked while she hurriedly rushed the two sisters out of the dojo, hoping to change the subject off what untimely demise had happened to her past self. Sliding the outer door closed, she would have to come out later on to check to make sure Ryoga was alright.

"I heard talking but I didn't stay long enough to hear what they were saying." Kasumi answered.

"Nabiki is probably trying to extort money from dad because she's emotionally damaged." Akane snorted. "As if she has feelings to hurt."

"Akane, that's not very nice, Nabiki was held hostage by a monster." Kasumi admonished her sister. "You've been in that position before; you should have more compassion for your sister."

"Sorry." The short haired girl apologized as they entered the home.

'Maybe she'll quit being such a money-grubbing annoyance.' Ranma didn't think she should voice that right next to Kasumi, who viewed her sister in a much more positive light, or at least found it distasteful to voice her full disapproval.

Briefly she heard a very young girl's voice from down the hall, followed by Nodoka chiming in a moment later. "Hinako isn't here again, is she?" Ranma groaned. If she had to deal with that little ki vampire tonight, then someone was getting hurt.

It turned out not to be Hinako, because the teacher didn't have red eyes along with soft pink hair tied up into two carrot like odango with small pigtails. The little girl of eight was wearing a white sailor fuku style school uniform with a blue skirt and being fawned over by Nodoka up until she noticed that Ranma was staring at her from the doorway. "You're cousin came to visit, isn't that nice?" Her mother announce happily.

"Auntie Ranma!" The little girl bounced over to Ranma and gave her a hug around the legs.

"What a cute little girl." Kasumi knelt down and gave the newcomer a friendly smile. "I didn't know you had a cousin, Ranma."

Ranma would have thought that same thing if her mind wasn't completely locked up. This was Usagi's daughter from the future, also named Usagi but usually known as Chibi-Usa, and someone who was in no way related to her.

"And she knows about the curse?" Akane questioned.

"Uh—" Ranma struggled to respond to this situation.

"Usa-chan, why don't you introduce yourself to Akane and Kasumi?" Nodoka suggested.

"Oh." The small pink haired girl stepped back into a polite curtsy to the two Tendo sisters. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Saotome Usagi, please take care of me."

As Kasumi and Akane returned greetings to the newcomer, Nabiki sidled up next to Ranma and poked her in the side. "Gee Saotome, red hair really does run in the family, doesn't it?"

"Seems like it." Ranma idly brought her pigtail forward to play with the end for a moment.

"Ya know when you finally find that lucky guy, you may just be looking at your future." The middle sister added.

'Wait a minute? What am I thinking? She's not my kid and she's not even related to me.' Ranma felt her cheeks flush at Nabiki's comment before grabbing Usagi's hand to pull her from the room for a private conversation. "Excuse us."

Rounding the corner to hide around the back wall of the home, she slowed to a stop to let Chibi-Usa's feet finally touch the grass. "Okay, why are you here?" Ranma demanded, not caring that she was talking to the daughter of her queen. "And why do my parents think you are our cousin?"

"That's easy; I just used Luna P's hypnosis ability to make them think that." She explained like it was a completely casual act.

Ranma grimaced at the mental manipulation. "And why did you need to make them think you're my cousin?"

"For training!" The pink haired girl announced grandly. "From you and my dear uncle Genma!"

"You don't want that— go back to your mom." Ranma replied flatly.

"But I wanted to learn all the stuff you can do." She kicked at some imaginary rock before bouncing into a generic martial arts stance. "Punches and kicks! Hiyaa!" She shouted and punched a tiny fist forward.

Ranma just stared as Chibi-Usa made a fool out of herself, demonstrating how poor a fighter she was.

"Oh!" Chibi-Usa reached into a small, magically appearing pink bag. "Usagi wanted me to give you this." She pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out.

"For me?" Ranma blinked several times and took the offered note. Only a childish doodle of Sailor Moon sticking out her tongue greeted her. "What is this?" She asked in confusion.

"I think she just wants some time alone with Daddy." Chibi-Usa answered, her voice full of suggestion, and demurely covered her mouth with a hand.

* * *

Author Notes:

Previews for future chapters go up on fukufics dot com and thefanfictionforum dot net. And I'm always looking for people to preview my work or to bounce ideas off of.


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